“According to Shmyhal, Ukraine is ready to immediately send personnel to Sweden”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
Shmyhal, together with his Swedish colleague, told reporters in Stockholm that Ukraine is ready to immediately send personnel to Sweden, writes Reuters.
Sweden and Ukraine are making progress on financing a major deal that could include the purchase of up to 150 Gripen fighter jets, Sweden’s defense minister told the agency, adding that Stockholm could finance part of the deal with military aid.
“Funding is moving forward and we are working closely with the Ukrainian side,” Pal Johnson said, adding that Ukraine’s ability to finance the aircraft from its budget after the war will be a central part of the deal, but there are other ways. – “We can consider export credits, frozen Russian assets and our aid system for Ukraine, which is 40 billion crowns next year and 40 billion in 2027.”
“Perhaps countries that have sub-components of the Gripen system will have additional incentives to help finance the deal,” the Swedish minister said.
On October 22, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson announced that Sweden and Ukraine signed a declaration of intent to sell 100 to 150 Gripen fighter jets of the most advanced E series to Kyiv. The Swedish Prime Minister added that this is the beginning of a “long journey for the next 10-15 years.”
Responding to journalists’ inquiries as to whether Ukraine could receive the Gripen as early as 2026, Kristersson repeated that “this issue is not currently open.” He explained that the partners had agreed not to enter two different types of combat aircraft at the same time during the war, so as not to complicate training and maintenance.
However, President Volodymyr Zelenskyi later said that the first of the 150 Gripen aircraft promised by Sweden should appear in Ukraine next year.
Read also: Sweden does not rule out the transfer of Gripen to Ukraine, but is now focusing on reconnaissance aircraft – the Prime Minister
Last year, the Office of the President reported that a unique part of the security agreement with Sweden is the provision of specialized ASC 890 aircraft, as well as the prospect of transferring JAS 39 Gripen aircraft to Ukraine, including relevant training.
In August 2024, it became known that Ukrainian pilots began testing Swedish Gripen fighters.
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Russia, the Ukrainian authorities have asked the West to provide modern F-16 fighter jets. In 2023, several countries, with the consent of the US, decided to transfer such planes to Kyiv. The first F-16 fighters that arrived in Ukraine were shown during the celebrations for the Air Force Day of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on August 4, 2024.